Email Newsletter

Archives

Designing boards and enclosures for your DIY electronics projects with free softwareRob Miles has posted a great introduction to using FreeCAD to make mounting boards and boxes for his DIY electronics projects. In this case he is using Gadgeteer hardware modules but the process could be adapted to any kind of board.

There are times when you don’t have a workstation handy; and even your laptop may be out of reach when a lightbulb-moment pops up and that tricky design idea needs your attention.

In late 2011, Autodesk released ForceEffect for IOS devices. After over 100,000 Apple flavoured downloads, the mobile simulation app is now available for use on Android devices as well.

This neat little program enables designers and engineers to quickly simulate design options at the early conceptual phases. There is an intuitive drawing environment in which constraints can be added to object elements, enabling the simulation of forces and structural behaviours under load.

Would this be useful for your digital manufacturing workflow?

A video run-through of the ForceEffect user interface follows after the break. (more…)

Last weekend at Maker Faire, Wired editor-in-chief and Ponoko advisory board member Chris Anderson took center stage to talk about the new industrial revolution and the next phase in that revolution: apps.

Just as the personal computer, the desktop printer, and software applications came together to democratize the printing industry, this same combination is democratizing manufacturing.

This democratization of manufacturing is what Ponoko is working towards. We’re on a mission to make it easier to make things. And the key to empowering everyone to make their own products is a new market of product creations apps.

To enable this market, we released the Personal Factory API. Our API allows developers to integrate Ponoko’s manufacturing solutions into all kinds of applications.

Announcing 4 apps that will change the way things are made.
We are proud and endlessly excited to announce the first four apps to be built using the Personal Factory API.

Local Motors Fab Shop

Make custom car parts with the Local Motors Fab Shop. Design your part with Solid Edge Design 1 or other CAD software. Upload your design to the Fab Shop, and Local Motors manufactures your custom part with precision waterjet cutting. Knocking down the barriers between you and the car of your dreams. Find the Local Motors Fab Shop in the Personal Factory App Gateway.

Getting some serious work out of your hobby 3D printer.
It has been said that once you have a lathe you can make just about any other tool. This open-source printable mini lathe could be the perfect place to get started. With the quality of hobby printers increasing so rapidly, it is great to see complex mechanical models like this making their way out into the ecosystem.

(We’ve seen a printed mini-lathe before, but that project seems to be obsolete now.)

123D Make is also available as a web-based and PC application, and — as of today — as a Mac OSX application.

So what does it do, exactly? 123D Make is all about converting your 3D models into 2D pieces for easy assembly, complete with animated instructions. You can print out the patterns and cut the pieces yourself or — thanks to the Ponoko Personal Factory API — you can have your pieces lasercut & shipped to your door.

Autodesk 123D + Ponoko Personal Factory API

Autodesk’s 123D website uses Ponoko’s Personal Factory API to handle the magic that happens between the digital design and the real-life product.

Since the beginning of our partnership last year, we’ve been pairing Ponoko’s pioneering technology and expertise in the make-it-yourself movement with Autodesk’s ingenuity and talent for developing powerful design software.

We want the Personal Factory API to create a whole new market of product creation and customization apps; so we are really excited about the continued development of the 123D site and expansion of the 123D app suite. Here’s break down of what’s new and what’s coming soon from Autodesk 123D!

Fritzing is an open-source initiative to support designers, artists, researchers and hobbyists to work creatively with interactive electronics. We are creating a software and website in the spirit of Processing and Arduino, developing a tool that allows users to document their prototypes, share them with others, teach electronics in a classroom, and to create a pcb layout for professional manufacturing.

I got introduced to Fritzing through a tipoff on the Ponoko User’s Forum and all I can say is ‘wow!’ It’s an amazing tool to support people all the way from their first taste of electronics to final production of their own designs.

I talked to Brian, Cameron and Shlok from PotteryPrint to find out more about this app, their inspiration behind the project, and their thoughts on the intersection of technology and childhood education.

First up, can a kid really use a 3D modeling app?
Kids can do amazing things if given the right tools, but until now the majority of 3D design software has been created using traditional CAD-based software which is often complex and takes some training to use effectively.

The amazing thing about tablets is that the touchscreen interface just clicks with kids. I (Cameron) have a two year old and four year old — both can easily navigate the family iPad: pointing at something comes far more naturally to children than using a mouse. The combination of touchscreen and the malleability of clay makes PotteryPrint immediately accessible to kids. It calls on something natural, something primitive. Your hands, making something.

If you missed out on the design contest, don’t miss out on giving Tinkercad a try. It’s one of the simplest 3D design tools ever. It lets you create 3D models with ease, rotate your design in 3D, and get your model 3D printed — all within your browser.